He was already planning a trip to Wembley when Christian Benteke put Villa ahead in the first-half but his joy turned to despair as the visitors hit back in the second half.

His anger was reserved for Villa’s players and he accused them of lacking the mental toughness to secure victory.

“I
have seen more fight on Castle Vale than Villa showed during the second
half. They just wilted as soon as they got under pressure,” claimed Adrian, 26, of Shard End.

“They were so weak. I have never seen a team wearing the Villa shirts roll over and die so easily,” he added.

“We just could not handle their players from setpieces. It’s been the same all season, but it’s not Paul Lambert’s fault.

“He can only work with what he has and they are not good enough.”

The
bitter fan continued: “The players earn too much money, that is the problem with Villa. Only one team really wanted to grab that place in the final and it wasn’t Villa.”

Lifelong Villa supporter Paul Magson said Villa’s superstars should be embarrssed to pick up their pay packets.

“When
they drive away from Villa Park in their Bentleys and Lamborghinis they
will soon forget about the Bradford games. They should spare a thought for the supporters who have suffered because of their lack of passion.

“It
won’t be them who suffer. It will be the tea lady and the office girls who get the chop if we are relegated because that is the way we are going,” added Mr Magson, of Great Barr.

Supporter Chris Jones, of Northfield, was also disappointed with the team’s second half showing.

He fumed: “The players were an embarrassment. It is not good enough.”

Punter
Rog Howes stood to win several hundred pounds if his wager on Villa to get to Wembley had come in. Mr Howes, of Northfield, placed a £150 bet at 11/10 but at the final whistle he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“I was really confident before the game. Now the missus will go mad if she finds out,” he joked.

Season
ticket holder Pat Gaynor, of Erdington, refused to pay extra for his semi-final ticket and chose to watch the match at the Aston Social Club.

“I
pay over £500 a season already so I was not going to pay more for this match. I had a funny feeling that Bradford might sneak it but I became a
little more confident when we were on top in the first half.

“But
that’s been the story of our season – we cannot defend setpieces and that has cost us across both legs when we have conceded three headed goals,” he claimed.

It was
the first match that barmaid Grazia Sassano had attended. She said: “It
was my first game and I could not believe the atmosphere. I enjoyed that more than the match.”

Villa fans started arriving at the ground last night well
before the gates opened. Pubs and clubs near the stadium were doing a roaring trade and the atmosphere was red-hot as the game kicked off, quickly warming up the shivering crowd despite the -5C temperatures.

More than 11,000 Bradford fans travelled to Villa Park.

Holte
Ender Tony Jorden, 22, said before the match he was confident Paul Lambert’s men would score early to ease their passage through to a Wembley final.

But at the end of 90 minutes he criticised boss Lambert for daring to suggest in media interviews that Villa would easily overturn the tie.

“He gave Bradford all the motivation they needed,” he said.

“Bradford
were playing in the semi-finals of the League Cup for the first time in
the 53-year history of the competition – we should have beaten them over two legs. There are no excuses,” he said.